Pretty Little Liars Recap: “‘A’ is for A-l-i-v-e”

Season 4 of Pretty Little Liars began with revealing what was inside the trunk, a dead pig. After the cops were called in, the “pig” had been replaced with a more figurative one, Detective Wilden. Someone shot him multiple times.

The Liars (which now included Janel Parrish’s Mona) feared they were going to be framed for another murder by A and/or Red Coat.

Some cryptic text messages later, Mona and Spencer (Troian Bellisario) figured out it was Hanna’s (Ashley Benson) mother, Ashley, who was likely the target. ARC had put Ashley’s phone in Wilden’s casket. Prison-suit orange does not seem like it’d be Mrs. Marin’s best color!

It was awkward for Aria (Lucy Hale) and Ezra to be around each other, since they’d broken up, and he took a permanent teaching job at Rosewood High.

Aria got called to the vice-president’s office and fretted it was about her relationship with Ezra. He called her out for lying about how intimate she and Ezra had been, and then confronted her with photos of them in bed together. Ezra was being carted off to jail for sleeping with a minor student as they spoke!

It turned out it had all just been a nightmarish daydream of Aria’s. It’s too bad since it was the most exciting thing that’s happened on this show in ages, and was the best part of the ep! The reverie ultimately scared Aria enough to want to see other people because she didn’t want to ruin Ezra’s life.

Paige got into Stanford’s swim program. She wanted Emily (Shay Mitchell) to leave Rosewood and go to Stanford too. Emily said should would and they exchanged declarations of love.

Later, Jenna told Emily to give Toby her apologies, if something happened to her. She was afraid since everyone who’d seen Ali the night she died (Ian, Garrett, and Wilden) were all dying. That Wilden had seen Ali that night surprised Emily. (How many boys was that girl juggling?!)

Hanna extended an olive branch to Mona, who agreed to work with the others to discover ARC’s identity. She showed them her trailer full of intel, and gave them all the files she had.

Mona also revealed maybe lovers Shana and Jenna, Lucas, and CeCe had all been involved with previous A/Red Coat shenanigans. She also showed a video that had both Wilden and Melissa in Queen of Heart costumes on the Halloween train, meaning they’re the ones who nearly killed Aria. She also said Shana and Jenna were terrified of Melissa.

Spencer and Toby were in a good place romantically speaking, but that might soon change. A sent Toby a text promising to reveal what really happened to his sick mom, if he turned over Mona’s trailer. He complied.

A flashback also revealed Alison nearly hooking up with a nerdy Toby back in the day, but getting shut down after she made fun of his dying mother.

The Liars all went to Wilden’s funeral at ARC’s insistence. Officer Gabriel Holbrook, a new, state police officer introduced himself. He’s played by Sean Faris, so he’s hot and young enough to be a love interest, but old enough to make it slightly creepy; just how PLL likes.

Officer Holbrook seemed nice enough, but also suspicious, given the Liars’ sordid history with Wilden. He told the girls they would all have to come in soon for questioning.

It’s all so ridiculous. All these girls ever have to do is hand over all the evidence of A’s stalking, and they’d be cleared of these crimes. Well, except the perjury…

Best line: “Alison would be so proud of you, Hanna. You really kept the weight off.” -Mrs. DiLaurentis giving Hanna a “compliment” at Wilden’s funeral. No wonder Ali was always such a b****. It sure will be interesting with her living in the old neighborhood again!